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5052-H32
aluminum is the popular choice for fuel tanks so who was I to argue.
I drew the tank plan on the 0.032" thick sheet. The
dimensions are based on the stub wing area allowing room for the wing
skins above and below as well as some space between the tank sides and
the spars. As the front and rear spars begin their taper and
dihedral inside the fuselage sides and the fuselage itself is angled
between the spars, the tank sides are all different too. |
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The
plan is cut out using a jigsaw. I then bent the sides and
tabs by
clamping the aluminum to the table and applying pressure with a solid
straight edge to the over hanging portion. Once then bend was
started I used a hammer and rubber squeegee at the creases.
Once
done I use clamps to hold the shape. |
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These
are clecos and make holding it all together so easy.
The
rivets I'll be using are 1/8" solid aluminum. The drill bit
used
is made specifically for rivet holes as it is 0.004" larger than the
rivet. It is labeled #30. |
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Clamps are
no longer needed as the clecos do their job. |
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The spade
bit makes easy work of drilling the holes for the vent line and fuel
pickup. |
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Prior
to riveting, all the holes are deburred using a large drill bit as I
don't have a deburring tool. Anywhere a rivet is going, the
protective plastic is removed. |
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PROSEAL!!
If I never use this stuff again it will be too soon.
It gets everywhere and sticks to everything no
matter how
careful you are. I apply it with an icy pole stick to both
surfaces to be riveted. |
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The
corners are pulled together and the top hole is riveted first.
There is no way I am going to place clecos in these holes as
they
would be ruined. Some Proseal is applied to each rivet prior
to
riveting....and the rivet gun gets Proseal all over it. |
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I
have drilled all the holes for the top of the fuel tank and have used
clecos to hold it in place. The holes are 1/2" in from the
edges
as the flaps underneath are 1" wide. I do not have enough so
just
space them evenly. |
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It
is hard to tell from the photo, thus the sailing boat, but the
tank has been filled with water and has remained full for 24
hours. Once the top is riveted on, the tank will then be
pressure
tested. The measured capacity is 39.5 liters which
is about
10.4 US gallons. |
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Work
has begun on the second tank and I have had to be really careful to not
make another left hand tank. One mistake I did make was
bending
the top lips before bending the sides up. In an ideal world
it
would all work out ok but bending by hand is not exact. I had
to
straighten out the two side lips and remark where the creases needed to
be. |
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A
good way to get a crisp crease line is to clamp the lip in the vice and
apply pressure with your hand. I bend it half way over right
the
way along and then go back and finish it off all the way. |
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For
the second tank I bought the AS&S version of Proseal which was
$17
plus shipping versus $100 for a slightly larger tube of Proseal from a
supplier here in Australia. The caulking gun makes
application a
breeze though it still manages to get everywhere when riveting. |
